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Nornickel’s new mining plant dispatches first consignment of copper concentrate to China

1,500 tonnes of copper concentrate were shipped to China

CHITA, April 23. /TASS/. The Bystrinsky Mining and Processing Plant (GOK), which the Norilsk Nickel Company (Nornickel) built in Transbaikalia south-east, sent to China the first consignment of copper concentrate, GOK’s press service said on Monday.

"The Bystrinsky GOK has dispatched the first consignment: 1,500 tonnes of copper concentrate were shipped to counterparts in China," the press service said. "Another 3,000 tonnes are due before April ends."

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"In the next few months, Bystrinsky GOK is also planning to dispatch its first shipment of iron ore concentrate," Nornickel’s First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Sergey Dyachenko said.

In late 2017, Nornickel constructed Bystrinsky GOK in a hard-to-reach area in Transbaikalia. Currently, the plant is running in the pre-commissioning mode. It is expected to be commissioned on a phased basis within 2018. Bystrinsky GOK will reach its design capacity in 2019 to produce annually 3 mt of magnetite concentrate and 260 kt of copper concentrate. Later on, the plant will produce (gravity) gold concentrate, which will be processed at Nornickel’s own facilities.

"We have a positive outlook for the copper and iron ore concentrate markets. Going forward, we are committed to building a solid foundation that will support our production growth," Nornickel’s Senior Vice President Sergey Batekhin said. "China is currently our priority market for Bystrinsky GOK’s sales, but we plan to tap other Asian markets as well. Nornickel also considers delivering magnetite and copper concentrates to customers in Russia."

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